


A day different than others

by Chaotic_Kurisu



Category: Free!
Genre: Friends to Lovers, M/M, Romance, University AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-14
Updated: 2019-09-14
Packaged: 2020-10-18 16:27:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20642174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chaotic_Kurisu/pseuds/Chaotic_Kurisu
Summary: This is my first fic ever. English is my second language so please forgive mistakes and let me know what went wrong.





	A day different than others

It'd been almost a year since he left Iwatobi, but Haruka was still not used to the overwhelming noises of Tokyo. At first, he thought he won't stand this suffocating feeling, like he was trapped in a concrete room, dark, dry and cold. He spent his whole life in a port town, which was rather quiet and most importantly, there was the ocean. Oh, how he missed the ocean. It wasn't that he wanted to swim in it, the wild water gave too much resistance to swim freely and it was too much trouble, but he missed that warm, salty breeze and calming sound of the waves. So many times had he run along the shore, focused purely on his own breathing and the sound of his footsteps, that he never realized, the ocean was something he would miss so much one day.  
He also had to leave his home behind, full of childhood memories, but that actually wasn't so hard for him as for Makoto. He never really cared for material things, but his ever-smiling friend was a mess when they had to leave. Even though Makoto planned everything by himself and was determined to go to Tokyo completely by himself and live there, he started reminiscing about every single second of his life in Iwatobi, and of course, he had to involve Haruka. Because why wouldn't he want to take one last look at their life, right? 

Why was it so important now? He wasn't going to just disappear and never go back, he was only moving there to study and swim. He would come back eventually. If not, he was sure Nagisa would find a way to drag him all the way back and whine whole day how much he missed him and how he should have called more. Or at all. Or just sent a message that he's actually alive and hasn't been kidnapped by the aliens.  
He had been just fine all these years, living alone and all, so he didn't really see such a big difference to begin with. He settled in and gave himself completely to the water. He was glad he had found a small flat close enough to a nice pool, but his new trainer made him change his diet. And Makoto, as always helpful, made sure he never had too much mackerel in his freezer and a lot of everything else. When he first found out, that Haruka got scolded by his trainer for not following his directions, Makoto scolded him too and dragged the boy all over the market, getting him everything he might need and a lot more. And then apologized for making a fuss. The smaller boy never really minded the attention from his best friend, he was glad, that despite Makoto's vow to become independent and their big fight the year before, they still remained friends.  
He could never ask for more. They had always been together and it felt unnerving to be apart, but it was the only right thing to do. They both decided to follow their dreams and move on, wherever that might lead. Haruka knew that wanting more is wrong, that if he ever wavered in his feelings the outcome would hurt both of them. And hurting Makoto was unforgivable.  
But now he had more important things to do than thinking of stupid feelings. He was actually rather amused and he had to make sure the boy next to him wouldn't notice. The previous evening Makoto had called him, embarrassed and on the border of crying, that he might actually need his help. The taller boy attempted to make a dinner for himself and because there were exams, he had made sure to make enough for a couple of days. But, to Haruka's dismay, he decided to experiment a little with the spices.  
"Haru, it's terrible!" - was the first thing Haruka heard when he had answered the phone. He already knew where this was going.  
"What did you do?"  
"I... I wanted to make some dinner and-"  
"How bad is it?"  
"I think... I think I can't fix it anymore." Makoto sounded sad. Almost sorry for the food, "And I made a lot, too."  
"... have you tried adding more rice?"  
That usually fixed most of the problems with Makoto's cooking. Haruka was still surprised, that after almost a year and a few lessons from him, his friend was able to make an inedible meal at least twice a month.  
"Haru, I don't think that would help. And I don't want to waste any more food. And I don't have time to go and buy more and-"  
"Alright, I'll come over tomorrow"  
"Eh? But Haru, I can't waste your time, you have practice every day! And by the time you go back to your place it will be dark outs-"  
"Then why did you call me"  
Silence.  
"Makoto"  
"I'm sorry. I just-... I guess I'm stressed out because of the exams. I promise I will repay you somehow."  
"Okay. Don't buy anything, I'll get everything on my way"  
"Thank you! See you tomorro-"  
He ended the call and let out a sigh. He wondered, what could he had failed to make this time?  
Next day, when he finally made it to his friend's apartment, he was greeted with a wide, cheerful smile and a really big pot of... something.  
"A curry?" Haru said, not sure what he was looking at. It could have been curry, right?  
"Y-Yeah..." the taller boy stuttered, scratching the back of his head with an embarrassed expression all over his face.  
"Why is there a whole onion." He put a spoon in and stirred a little. "... Chicken wings?"  
"Ah! That's- I-I thought it would be faster this way... And the chicken-I just thought it will be more nutritious!" Then you should have put mackerel instead.  
Makoto he was looking everywhere but at Haru, who was trying very hard not to laugh at his friend's genuine attempts at making delicious food. Where did he get the ideas? How come they always end in a disaster and need his help? Good thing Makoto was a little behind him, that way he didn't see how much his stoic attitude crumbled with every second looking inside the pot. While Makoto was still too embarrassed to say anything, Haruka pulled out the spoon with some curry in it and brought it to his face. Let's see how bad it is.  
"Haru, don't eat it, you might get sick!"  
But it was too late. By the time Makoto turned him around, he was already swallowing the curry with the most unemotional face he could pull off. Then he felt all the tastes, all the spices and started coughing, with tears forming in the corners of his eyes and panicking Makoto flailing his limbs around him.  
"Water" Haruka managed to utter with a hoarse voice and in a second there was a glass of cool, perfect water in his hand and a second later, its content was already streaming down his burning throat. He put down the empty glass and let out a content sigh with his eyes closed to calm himself a bit. Well, that was impressive.  
"Are you all right?" 

He felt a big, warm hand touch his upper arm and when he opened his eyes, he was faced with lips shut in a thin line and worried green eyes staring right into his own. The closeness of their bodies startled him a little, so he nodded silently and looked to the side.  
"I had to make sure I can't fix it" he said as the warm touch left his arm.  
"And?" Makoto looked almost hopeful. Though, he probably knew the answer.  
"... I can't."  
"Ah, I thought so." The boy smiled apologetically and moved to the counter, where Haruka left his groceries when he had come. "So, what are we making?"  
"Miso. And I am making it, you go study."  
"Eh?! But Haru, I can't make you do it all by yourself! I invited you so it would be rude to make you do it alone."  
Haruka moved in front of his bag and stared at Makoto with his arms crossed. He had to lift his head up, since his friend actually grew a little over the year. Again.  
"I invited myself first. And you said you have exams, right? So go and study, when I finish the dinner you'll have a break and then I'll examine what you've learned."  
And that should fix the problem, he thought. This way Makoto will have dinner, time to study and knowledge that he actually learned something, so that should make him stop worrying so much over literally everything. He even went out of his way and didn't buy any mackerel, because the other would surely complain a lot. Mainly about Haruka not being allowed to eat mackerel more than three times a week. He was a grown man, he could take care of his own diet. He could always hide a moveable freezer in a closet or something. Makoto wouldn't look there... right?  
"Are you sure? I could chop the vegetables or get the plates ready." His friend's words brought him back to reality.  
"Makoto." It's alright, you're supposed to study, that's what he was thinking. He was staring at his friend for a while, conveying his thoughts, his gaze unwavering and he could finally hear the other groan in defeat.  
"Okay, I'm going." And with that the taller boy withdrew from the kitchen area.  
Haruka waited, until Makoto sat down properly in front of the small table and pulled out his notebooks, and then content with getting his point across, went back to making a proper, edible dinner. Without mackerel.  
They still saw each other since the areas were connected and Haruka could hear rustling of the pages being flipped from time to time. Makoto's flat consisted of one main room, small kitchen attached to it, a closet and a bathroom. Their apartments were actually very similar since the architecture of Tokyo enforced a compact style of living, though Haruka had a bigger bathtub. He was always wondering how his bigger friend was able to fit in such a tiny space and actually feel comfortable. Could he get stuck in it? 

Once the dinner was almost ready, Makoto put away his books and silently joined Haru in the kitchen, preparing the plates and cutlery. This time the blue eyed boy didn't have time to complain. When he turned around to face his friend and chase him away, he was struck with a wide, gentle smile and couldn't even open his mouth. He just looked away as the taller boy took everything he needed and went back to the table to clear some space for the both of them.  
They ate mostly in silence, sometimes interrupted by Makoto's happy statements "Haru's cooking is always the best!" and the other's impassive nods. The smaller boy noticed how tired the green eyes looked but decided to not bring it up. He must have been so stressed by the exams that he wasn't sleeping properly at night. Haruka offered to clean the dishes but the taller boy assured him he would do it later, so they could revise what Makoto had learned instead.  
And it seemed that he already knew everything.  
"I think you know more than your teacher already."  
"But what if I forget something! I have to be sure or I might fail and that would be horrible and my parents would be angry and-."  
"You memorized every single word, Makoto." What else was there to learn?  
"Exams are scary, Haru, I have to do my best."  
"You're overworking yourself."  
"No, you don't understand how important this is, you're so lucky you don't have to endure them."  
Ah, that was it. It was true, he didn't understand. He never knew what was so important in his grades. He never had any problems either, he just was uninterested and that never changed. If he hadn't chosen swimming, he could have easily got accepted to Makoto's university. His friend was happy to hear that he finally found his dream and then, practically overjoyed when he announced he got scouted and would move to Tokyo. Haruka would never admit it, but he was probably as happy, knowing they would still be close enough to see each other weekly.  
Maybe he didn't understood why Makoto had to be so stressed about his exams, but he still was concerned. Overworking is bad; both for the body and mind, but at that moment, in his friend's head were only exams. As usual, he worried over everything except his own well-being. It was always like this, putting everyone else's matters over his own. Why wouldn't he understand? He was just...  
"... worried."  
"What?"  
Oh. He said it out loud. Shit.  
"Nothing."  
"Oh. Okay." And that was it.  
Makoto never asked. A gentle giant, he was. Always silently observing him, protecting, but always within a safe distance. Haruka was sure his best friend knew almost anything about him and yet, he was there for him, but never closer.  
On that stormy night, when he almost lost him, that was when he started to realize how blind he had been for all these years they spent together. How much he loved that gentle smile and green eyes and warm hand always there to pull him up. Makoto's words back then were a bit of a shock for him. A confession, he thought, Makoto confessed Haruka was the reason he was still swimming. It hit him then. They were both swimming because of each other. It was his taller friend that had made him join the swimming club. It was him, who gently directed his moves to go back to swimming, open up a swim club at their school. And then it was him, who pushed him to find his dream. It was always Makoto.  
And it will never be Makoto. Ah, he was being silly again.  
Haruka stood up.  
"Makoto, I'm using your shower."  
"Ah, right. You came right after practice, didn't you? Go ahead, I'll study some more and when you finish we could-"  
"I'll be going back afterwards, it's dark outside already."  
"... it is. Okay then." The taller boy looked outside the window and dropped his head a little, reaching for a notebook.  
Was he too harsh? He felt an unpleasant feeling forming in his chest and decided to just leave it at that and go for the shower.  
The water was pleasant as always, washing away his thoughts and worries. He didn't want to waste too much water at Makoto's place, so he only took a quick shower, dried his hair quickly to avoid scolding and changed into fresh clothes from his bag.  
When he went back to the main room, everything was perfectly quiet and his friend was bent over the table, with hands under his head serving as a pillow and a notebook long forgotten. His face was turned towards the window, glowing lightly from the lights on the street.

Haruka tiptoed towards the table and sat down, making as little noise as possible. He couldn't stop staring at the beautiful, tired expression on his best friend's face and felt his lips turn into a delicate smile. He decided to just sit and wait, he would have had to be heartless to wake Makoto up. Especially when he was so tired and needed all the sleep he could get.  
After ten minutes of admiring the sleeping beauty, still not waking up, Haruka decided he really needed to go. He moved to face his friend and slowly reach his hand to pat the other's shoulder. He stopped suddenly, unable to move, as he looked at Makoto from such a small distance, noticing his long eyelashes, long nose and lightly parted lips.  
The disturbing feeling in his chest came back with a lot more force than ever and he found himself holding his breath and leaning forward. Before he could think, their lips touched and a warm sensation ran over his whole body, leaving space for more than he could allow. He withdrew slowly and gasped, seeing green eyes staring right into him.  
Oh no.  
He bounced backwards, his breath stuck in his throat, and attempted to get back to his feet as quickly as possible.  
No, no, NO. This can't be happening.  
"Haru-"  
"I'm going home."  
Before his friend could react, he grabbed his bag form under the wall and marched towards the entrance. When he was right past the bathroom door, a big figure appeared right in front of him, blocking his way.  
"Move" He said, almost growled, unable to contain all contradicting emotions shouting in his head.  
"Haru-"  
"Move!"  
"..."  
Ah, he didn't mean to...  
"I want to leave." Please.  
"No."

Why was his voice so desperate? Wouldn't it be easier to just let him leave? With that one, forbidden touch, Haruka just destroyed everything they had. Their friendship now was as good as nothing. He did it again, he betrayed his best friend. Makoto was going to hate him now, probably never speak to him again and fall into misery, thinking it was all his fault. But the taller boy was innocent, unaware of everything, because Haruka made sure he would never find out about his feelings.  
And now it was all ruined. He ruined it. He couldn't even look at his friend, he only dropped his head and stared at his feet. His hands were shaking, probably his whole body was shaking, too, but he was focused on not screwing things up even more.  
They stood in silence, none of them moving. The smaller boy could feel the eyes on him. There would be questions, a lot of them, he was sure. This was too much, there was no way out of it now. The faster he explained, the faster he would be in his apartment, in the tub, drowning his feelings.  
"...- sorry." He murmured. He felt his throat tightening at the thought what he was going to say next.  
"I'm sorry. I... love you." There, he said it. Now please, let him leave-  
Suddenly he was being hugged and he could feel his body tense at the sudden touch. He tried to move away, but the grip was strong enough to hold him perfectly in place.  
"M-Makoto?" His voice was shaking now too. His friend could probably feel how much his body was trembling. Was he comforting him?  
He attempted to part the arms holding him tightly, but he had no chance of escaping.  
"I'm sorry." Makoto's voice vibrated right next to his ear. He was going to say the words Haruka never wanted to hear. Oh how much he wanted to just go back in time and never visit his friend again.  
"I'm so sorry, Haru, I-I didn't know" 

He felt something wet hit his shoulder. Was Makoto crying? Did he make him miserable already?  
"I never realized-"  
"Makoto, that's enough, let go." He tried to pull away again, but instead he was harshly gripped by the shoulders and made to look straight at his friend.  
"No, listen to me!"  
Makoto was crying. He looked so tired and panicked, but somehow his eyes were almost glowing in the dark. Haruka was unable to look away now.  
"Me too, Haru. I love you. I...I really love you."  
What?

He felt his heart stop at these words, along with his breath and the whole world around him. That couldn't be true. How could have he not seen it? How long was he hiding it? Why didn't he say anything- Ah, he knew too well. "I never realized". They were both doing the same thing, believed it was for the best. Thinking the other didn't feel the same. Oh how wrong they were.  
A warm sensation on his cheek brought him back to reality. He touched it and felt wet tears streaming down his face. He started crying and he didn't even know when. A big hand overlapped his and he looked up, into the glowing green.  
"Hey, Haru, can I do it again?"  
"Do what?"  
"That."  
And within a second, their lips touched the second time that day, warm emotions filling their bodies, thoughts escaping into nothingness, heartbeats singing together. It was a short kiss, but meant the whole world for both of them. It was the answer they were both looking for desperately.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic ever. English is my second language so please forgive mistakes and let me know what went wrong.


End file.
